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Chicago Tribune Campaign Documents. 

CONTAINING: 

The C .institutional Amendment— Vote en the Same In the Senate and House of Rep- 
resentatives — The Admission of Tennessee— Gov. Brownlow's Statement— Hlfcl OKY 
OF THE NEW ORLEANS MASSACRE— Geia'l Sheridan'* Dtspatohes Concerning 
the Same— Andrew Johnson's Speech at Cleveland— Address of the Southern 
Loyalist*' Convention— Resolutions of the Springfield Post cf the Grand Army of 
the Republic, on Andrew Johnson — President Johnson's Record Prior to the As- 
sembling of the 39th Oongross— Extracts from his Speeches and Letter*— Pre»ident 
Lincoln's Letters tc Governor Hahn and Gen. Wadsworth in Favor cf Impartial 
Suffrage* 

The Congressional Plan of Reconstruction. 

The following is the amendment of the ! 
Constitution proposed by Congress to the j 
Legislatures of the several States, as the 
basis of Reconstruction : 



"Joint resolution proposing an amend- 
ment to the Constitution of the United 
States. 

" Resolved by the Senate and House of Repre- 
sentatives of the United States of America in 
Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both 
.Houses concurring.) That the following ar- 
■ ticle be proposed to the Legislatures of the 
several States as an amendment to the Con- 
stitution of the United States, which, when 
ratified by three-fourths of said Legislatures, 
shall be valid as part of the Constitution, 
namely : 

" article 14. 

" Section 1. All persons born or natural- 
ized in the United States, aud subject to the 
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the Uni- 
ted States and of the State wherein they re- 
side. No Stite shall make or enforce any 
law which shall abridge the privileges or 
immunities of citizens of the United States ; 
nor shall any State deprive any person of 
life, liberty, or property, without due pro- 
cess of law, nor deny to any person within 
its jurisdiction the equal protection of the 
laws. 

"Sec. 2. Representatives shall be appor- 
tioned among the several States according 
to their respective numbers, counting the 
whole number of persons in each State, ex- 
cluding Indians not taxed. But when the 
right to vote at any election for the choice 
of electors for President and Vice-President 
of the United States, Representatives in 
Congress, the executive aud judicial officers 
of a State, or the members of the legislature 



thereof, is denied to auy of the male inhabi- 
tants of sucli State, being twenty-one years 
of age, and citizens of the United States, or 
in any way abridged, except for participa- 
tion in rebelliou or other crime, the basis of 
representation therein shall be reduced in 
the proportion which the number of such 
male citizens shall bear to the whole number 
of male citizens twenty-one years of age in 
such State. 

"Sec. 3. No person shall be a Senator or 
Representative in Congress, or elector of 
President Or Vice President, or held any 
office, civil or military, under the United 
States, or under auy State, who, having pre- 
viously taken an oath, as a member of Con- 
gress, or as an officer of the United States, 
or as a member of any State Legislature, or 
as an executive or judicial officer of any 
State, to support the Constitution of tha 
United States, shall have engaged in insur- 
rection or rebellion agaiust the same, or giv- 
en aid or comfoit to the enemies thereof. 
But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds 
of each House, remove such disability. 

" Sec. 4. The validity of the public debt of 
the United States, authorized by law, in- 
cluding debts incurred for payment of pen- 
sions and bounties for services in suppressing 
insurrection or rebellion, shall not be ques- 
tioned. But neither the United States nor 
any State shall assume or pay auy debt or ob- 
ligation incurred in aid of iusurreetiou or re- 
bellion against the United States, or any 
claim for the loss or emancipation of any 
slave, but all such debts, obligations and 
claims shall be held illegal and void. 

"Sec. 5. The Congress shall have power 
to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the 
provisions of this article." 



Vote on the 

Senate, June 
1866, by 



the 



The Amendment passed the 
8th, and the House June 13th, 
following vote : 

SENATE. 

Teas — Messrs. Anthony, Chandler, Clark, 
Conness, Cragin, Cresswell, Edmunds, Fos- 
ter, Fessenden, Grimes, Harris, Henderson, 
Howard, Howe, Kirkwood, Lane of Kansas, 
Lane of Indiana, Morgan, Morrill, Nye, Po- 



Amendment. 

land, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Shcrrnsn, Sprague, 
Stewart, Sumner, Trumbull, Wade, Willey, 
Williams, Wilson, Yates — 33. 

Nays — Messrs. Cowan, Doolittle, Davit, 
Guthrie, Hendricks, Johnson, McDouyall, Nor- 
tou, Riddle, Sauhbury, Van Winkle — 11. 

Absent— Messrs. Brown, Buckaiew, Dixon, 
2fesmith t Wright— -5. 



' t 



2 






53 



nOTISB. 

Teas— Messrs. Alley, Allison, Ames, An- 
derson, Delos R. Ashley, James M. Ashley, 
Baker, Baldwin, Banks, Barker, Baxter, 
Beaman, Benjamin, Bidwell, Bingham, Blaine, 
Blow, Boutwell, Brandegee,Brom well, Broom- 
all, Buckland, Bundy, Reader W. Clarke, 
Sidney Clarke, Cobb, Ctmkling, Cook, Cul- 
lom, Darling, Davis, Dawes, Defrees, Delano, 
Doming, Dixon, Dodtre, Donnelly, Driggs, 
Dumont, Eckley, E^gleston, Eliot, Farns- 
worth, Farauhar, Ferry, Garfield, Grinnell, 
Griswold, Hale, Abner C. Harding, Hart, 
Hayes, Henderson, Higbv, Holmes, Hooper, 
Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, Chester D. 
Hubbard, Demas Hubbard, jr., John H. 
Hubbard, James R. Hubbell, Hulburd, In- 
gersoll, Jenckes, Julian, Kasson, Kelley, 
Kelso, Ketcham, Kuykendall, Lafflin, Lath- 
am, George V, Lawrence, William Lawrence, 
Loan, Longyear, Lynch, Marstou, Mar- 
vin, McClurg, McKee, MeRuer, Mcrcur, 
Miller, Moorhead, Morrill, Morris, 
Moulton, Myers, Newell, O'Neill, Orth, 
Paine, Patterson, Pcrham, Phelps, Pike, 
Plants, Pomeroy, Price, William H. Randall, 



Raymond, Alexander H. Rice, John H Rice, 
Rollins, Sawyer, Schenck, Seofleld, Shella- 
barger, Sloan, Smith, Spalding, Stevens, 
Stillwell, Tbayer, Francis Thomas, John L. 
Thomas, Trowbridge, Upson, Van Aernam, 
Burt Van Horn, "Robert T. Van Horn, Ward, 
Warner, Elihu .B. Washburne, Henry LV 
Washburn, William B. Washburn, Welker, 
Wentworth, Whaley, Williams, James F. 
Wilson, Stephen F. Wilson, Windom, Wood- 
bridge, the Speaker — 138. 

Nays — Messrs. Ancona, , Bergen, Boyer 
Chanter, Cojjroth, Daioxon, Dcnison, Eldridge, 
Finck, Glossbrenner, Gride.r, Aaron Harding, 
Hogan, Edwin N. Hubbell, James M. Hum- 
phrey, Johnson, Kerr, LeBlond, Marshall, 
McUtdlough, Niblack, Nicholson, Radford, 
Samuel J. Randall, Ritter, Rogers, Ross, 
Shanklin, Sitgreaves, Strouse. Tabcr, Taylor, 
Thornton, Trimble, Winfield', Wright— 36. 

Not Voting— Messrs. Culver, Goodyear, 
Harris, Hill, James Humphn y, Jones, Mcln- 
doe, Noell, Rousseau, Starr — 10. 

Republicans in roman ; Democrats in 
italic. 



The Admission of Tennessee— Governor Brownlow's Statement. 



Tennessee having ratified the Constitutional I 
Amendment, her Senators and Representa ! 
tives were immediately admitted to seats in t 
the respective houses of Congress. President 
Johnson used his utmost endeavors to pre- 
vent the ratification by the Tennessee Legis- 
lature. The following is Governor Brown- 
low's statement of the means employed to 
secure its defeat in that body : 

■ " It is known that I recently convened the 
General Assembly in extraordinary session to 
ratify the amendment to the Constitution of 
the United States proposed by the joint reso- 
lution of the two houses of Congress, more 
than two-thirds of both houses concurring. 
W. H. Seward, Secretary of State of the Uni- 
ted States, transmitted an attest copy of. the 
proposed amendment to me, under date of 
June 16th, and notified me officially that a 
decision by the Legislature was required by 
law. I accordingly convened the Legislature 
by proclamation on the 4th of July, and after 
a stormy session of twenty-one days tlie 
amendment was ratified in both houses, by 
more than a two-thirds vote. And this vic- 
tory was achieved over the combined oppo- 
sition to the measure of the President and 
half of the Tennessee Congressmen, who 
brought their influence to bear upon the Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

"Upon the assembling of the General As- 
sembly, Mr. Dunnaway, the immediate rep- 
resentative of Edmond Cooper, bolted with 
a view of reducing the House below a quo- 
rum. He was followed by Mr. Brown, one of 
the constituents of Mr.Leftwich, and he was 
followed by Dr. Marable, the instrument of 
Dorsey B. Thomas. The Hou6e appointed 
Captain Heydt, Superintendent of the Capi- 
tol, Sergeant-at-Arms, with authority to 
select his deputies, to arrest the bolters and 
return them to the House, and with the war- 
rants of the Speaker they set out by twos. 
Williams, of Carter, was brought in, but 
Marable's rebel friends resisted with guns 
and pistols and drove the two deputies 
back. Captain Heydt made application 
U) General Thomas for a file of soldiers— 



the General referred the case to Washing- 
ton, and the President, who is on the 
side of the bolters, and in favor of break- 
ing up the Legislature, as a means of defeat- 
ing the Constitutional Amendments, in- 
structed General Thomas, through the War 
Department, not to interfere, but to let the 
State Government and "the politicians fight 
it out. This encouraged the rebels and stim- 
ulated them to acts of violence. They sued 
out a writ of habeas corpus in the case of 
Williams, and Judges Brien and Gaut, of the 
Johnson Club, of the Executive Committee 
of Davidson County, argued their cause be- 
fore Judge Frazier of the Criminal Court. 
The Judge being a weak man, and a political 
partisan under rebel influence, decided 
against the Legislature and in favor of the 
rebels. Among all truly loyal men nothing 
but contempt is entertained for his decision 
and the man. Having no jurisdiction in the 
case, and the law and precedents being 
against him, it was not expected that such 
a monstrous decision would be given. But 
those who knew the man — those who knew 
that he was appointed to office by Military 
Governor Johnson — that he was laboring to 
have himself re-elected by the people in a 
rebel community — and that he would never 
take a decided stand when the rebellion 
came on, were prepared to hear his miser- 
able opinion delivered. 

41 But to proceed with my account of this 
rebel-judicial farce : the Sheriff, a rebel cap- 
tain, by the order of the new-born rebel 
Judge, released Williams from the custody 
in which he was held by the House, and 
before day light in the morning, the Sheriff- 
wit h a force of twenty-five discharged rebel 
soldiers, as it is alleged they were, broke 
into the State House to 6eize and carry be- 
; fore the Judge, Captain Heydt, who roomed 
] alone in the capitol. This rebel mob of Fra- 
' zier's forced the eoor and window of the 
I Federal Court room, breaking both, and, 
I with cocked revolvers, carried off the Ser- 
geant-at-Arms, whom the Judge fined Un 
| dollars for obeying the orders of the House, 



3 



and then released him. This action for out- 
rage, corruption and high-handed villany, 
has no parallel in history. This eagerness 
to get at tfeydt, and to have him resist, as 
an dKcuse for murdering him, grew out of 
the^fict that he had served as a hrave officer 
in the Federal army, and was several times 
wounded in battle, lighting traitors. Cap- 
tain Heydt had in custody a second member 
of the House, Mr. Martin, who had been a 
guerrilla chief in the late war, and he was 
released without any other process than that 
served by the mob, in breaking down the 
window and door. This is a part and parcel 



of Johnson's policy to restore the rebels to 
power. It means to crush out the Union 
men of the South, and restore the Demo- 
cratic traitors of the South to power and 
place. It is intended by him and his ad- 
vises to make treason respectable, and 
traitors honorable, while loyalty is to 
become disreputable„au„lloyal men are dis- 
graced and driven from the South. To ac- 
complish all this, and even more, there is on 
foot a regular conspiracy, and the chief con- 
spirator is Andrew Johnson, as I honestly be- 
lieve." 



Tlie New Orleans Massacre. 



Early in 1864, General Banks, then com- 
manding the Department of the Gulf, at the 
request aud solicitation of President Lin- 
coln, undertook the task of organizing a loy- 
al State Government, with a view of restor- 
ing Louisiana to the Union. His first step 
was to call an election of State officers, and 
this election took place on the 22d day of 
February, 1864. About thirteen thousand 
votes were cast, and Michael Hahn was cho- 
sen Governor, J. Madison Wells (the present 
Governor) Lieutenant Governor, and A. P. 
Dostie State Auditor. Governor Hahn was 
inaugurated, and all the State officers sworn 
in, the fourth of March, and soon afterwards 
General Banks issued a proclamation order- 
ing an election for members of a Convention 
to amend and revise the Constitution of the 
State of Louisiana. In response to this proc- 
lamation nearly a hundred delegates, repre- 
sentiug about two-thirds of the State, were 
elected and assembled in the city of New 
Orleans on the 6th day of April, 1864. Judge ' 
Bf'H. Durell, of the United States District 
Court, was chosen President of the Conven- 
tion. A Constitution was formed, and the 
tirst article declared that slavery was forever 
abolished, and that the Legislature should 
never recognize the right of property in man. 
This was of itself sufficient to ensure the 
deep and relentless animosity of every rebel 
in the State ; and the members of the Con- 
vention, especially those who were natives 
or old residents of Louisiana, were marked 
out for vengeance when the rebel soldiers 
should return to their homes. The 
Convention closed its labors on the 25th 
of July, and by the ordinance the Consti- 
tution was submitted to the people early 
in the next September. The Constitution 
was ratified by a vote of about ten thousand, 
the rebels and < oppcrheads keeping away 
from the polls. At the same time there was 
an election of Representatives to Congress i 
and of members of the Legislature, and that ; 
body met in the succeeding month of Octo- i 
ber, so that the complete machinery of a i 
State Government, save the Judiciary, was 
put into full operation. In February, 1865, ; 
Governor Hahn resigned, and the Lieutenant | 
Governor, Wells, became Governor in his 
stead. Governor Wells was no sooner in- ! 
stalled in his new office than he began to j 
yield to the blandishments of the rebel ma- | 
jority, and to turn Union men out of office, 
and put Confedeiate soldiers in their places. 
He continued this course until the seces- 
sionists became strong enough, as they 
thought, to put him out of office and to fill 
his place with one of their own number, for 



which purpose, during the last session 
of the Louisiana Legislature, they set about 
impeaching him. Governor Wells then cut 
loose from them, and again sought refuge 
within the Union lines, as he had done at the 
beginning oi the war. The rebels re-elec+ed 
John T. Monroe Mayor of New Orleans, the 
same person who filled the office when Ad- 
miral Farragut sailed his victorious iieet up 
to the city In 1862. Monroe was unable to 
take the office when elected, as he had not 
been pardoned. As soon as this obstacle was 
made known to Andrew Johnson the pardon 
was issued. He (Monroe) then proceeded to 
fill the police with the most desperate vil- 
lains he could find, many of them, as Gene- 
ral Sheridan declares, being known murder- 
ers. A reign of terror was speedily inaugu- 
rated. Threats of vengeance were 
hurled daily and almost hourly 
at .he heads of the Union 

men of the city and State. it 
became necessary for the latter to take some 
measures for self-defence', or to go into exile. 
The Convention cf 1864. when it adjourned, 
did not adjourn sine die, but subject to the 
call of its President, and it was determined by 
the Union men to take advantage of the fact, 
and have the Convention again called to- 
gether. The Governor favored the call for 
the Convention to re-assemble, and a caucus 
of members was held to take the necessary 
steps. Judge Durell, who was President of 
the Convention, refused to call it together, 
saying that if it were called the Governor 
would betray it. The caucus therefore 
elected Judge Howell, a Judge of the Su- 
preme Court of Louisiana, as President pro 
(cm., and Judge Howell issued a proclamation 
calling the Convention together in New Or- 
leans, on the 5th Monday of July. The Con- 
vention met on the 27th of July. The 
rebel Lieutenant Governor Voorhees, and the 
rebel Attorney General Herron telegraphed 
to. President Johnson that it was 
proposed to arrest the members and bring 
them before the Criminal Court, and in- 
quired : "Is the military to interfere witn 
the court?" — to which the President re- 
plied : " The military is expected to sustain 
and not obstruct or interfere with the pro- 
ceedings of the court." General Sheridan 
being absent from the c'ty, the command of 
the United States forces devolved on Major 
General Baird. This officer telegraphed to 
the War Department that he could not per- 
mit the arrest of delegates "without instruc- 
tions to that effect from the Preside),t. , ' On the 
30th a rebel mob, headed by the police, at- 
tacked the Convention, and a frightful mas- 



sacre ensued. Over one hundred persons 
were lulled outright, and a large number 
•wounded. Among tbe killed were Dr. A. r\ 
Dostie and the Rev. Mr. Horton, of Massa- 
chusetts. Ex-Governor Halm was wounded. 
While the massacre was going on, the Presi- 
dent sent a despatch to the rebel Attorney 
General Herron putting the military force ol 
the United States under his orders for the 
express purpose of "suppressing the unlaw- 
ful assemblage," as he called it, to which 
Herron replied the same day that General 
Baird had complied with the order. 
Thus Andrew Jonnson, by his 
official orders incited and sustained tha 
massacre ol a hundred Union men, who had 
been uuilty of no crime but that of assemb- 
ling to°-ether to take measures to defend 
themselves against rebel tyranny and 
Tiolence. The murder of these men was 
perpetrated under circumstances of '.he 
greatest atrocity. They were fired upon in 
their seats and while coming out of the 
doors. They were shot down in the street, 
and wounded men were stabbed and beatea 
to death in the wagons while they were 
being conveyed to the hospital. 

General Sheridan's Despatches. 
Major General Sheridan returned to New 
Orleans on the first of August and im- 
mediately sent a despatch to General Grant, 
characterizing the affair as a wanton murder 
on the part of the Mayor and police. Tins 
dispatch was sent to the President, and by 
him muilatcd and then sent to the agent of 
the Associated Press in Washington. The 
dispatch is as follows, the portion in italics 
baviny. been stricken out by the President : 

"New Orleans, August 1. 
"U. S. Grant : 

"General— You are doubtless aware of 
the serious riot which occurred in this city 
on the 30th. A political body, styling itself 
the Convention of 1864, met on the 30th, for, 
it isaVcged, the purpose of remodeling the 
present Constitution of the State. The lead- 
ers were political agitators and revolutionary 
men and the action of the Convention was 
liable to produce breaches of the public peace. 
I had made up my mind to arrest the head 
men, if the proceedings of the Convention 
were calculated to disturb the tranquility of 
the Department, but I had no cause for ac- 
tion until they committed the overt act. In 
the meantime, official duty called me to lexas, 
and the Mayor of the city, during my absence, 
tuppressed the Convention by the use of their po- 
lice force, and in doing so attacked the members 
of the Convention and a party of two hundred 
nearoes and with fire-arms, clubs and Jcmves, m 
a manner so unnecessary and atrocious as to 
compel me to say that it was murder. About 
forty whites and blacks were thus killed, and 
about one hundred and sixty wounded. Ev- 
erything is now quiet, but 1 deem it best to 
maintain a military supremacy hi the city for 
a few days, until the affair is fully investiga- 
ted I believe the sentiment of tbe general 
community is great regret at this unneces- 
sary cruelty, and that the police could have 
made auy arrest they saw fit without sacri- 
ficing live.. P. H. Sheridan, 
"Maior General Commanding." 
No other despatches from General Sheri- 
dan were furnished for publication until the 
»4th of August, when, as it is reported, the 



hero of the Shenandoah and Five Forkf 
threatened to resign it he were thus com- 
pelled to bear false witness concerning the 
horrid transaction. Thereupon the whole 
correspondence was published. It is as fol- 
lows 



THE REBEL LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR AND AT- 
TORNEY GENERAL TO ANDREW JOHNSON. 

"New Orleans, Louisiana, July 27th, 186ft. 
"His Excellency, President Johnson : 

"Sir: Governor Wells has, in compliance 
with the proclamation of R. K. Howell, Pre- 
sident, pro tern., signed writs of election to 
fill vacancies in the Convention, and for- 
warded the same to the office of the Secre- 
tary of State. 

(Signed) "Albert Voorhees, 

"Lieutenant Governor of Louieiana. 
"Andrew J. Herron, 
"Attorney General of Louisiana." 
same to same. 
"New Orleans, July 20th, I860. 
"To President Johnson: 

"A Radical mass meeting, composed 
mainly of negroes, was held last night, end- 
ing in a riot. The Committee of Arrange- 
ments of said meeting are assembling to- 
night. Violent and incendiary speeches are 
being made. The negroes are called upon to 
arm themselves. You are bitterly denounced. 
The speakers are Field, Dostie, Hawkins, 
Henderson, -Heir, Ward and others. Gover- 
nor Wells arrived last night, but sides with 
the Convention. We would place the whole 
matter before the Grand Jury, but it is im- 
possible to execute the civil process without 
the certainty of a riot. 

"It is contemplated to have the member* 
of the Convention arrested under process from 
the Criminal Court of this District. Is the mili- 
tary to interfere with the process of the 

Court? 

"A. Voorhees, Lieutenant Governor, La. 
"A. J. Herron, Attorney General, La." 

ANDREW JOHNSON TO THE REBEL LIEUTEN- 
ant governor. 

" Executive Mansion, \ 
"Washington, July 23, 1866. ( 
" To Albert Voorhees, Lieutenant Governor 
of Louisiana, New Orleans : 
"The military will be expected to sus- 
tain and not to obstruct or interfere with 
the proceedings of the Court. A despatch 
on the subject of the Convention was sent 
to Governor Wells this morning. 

" Andrew Johnson." 

andrew johnson to governor wells. 
"Executive Office, I 
" Washington, July 28, 1866. J 
" To Governor Wells, New Orleans : 

" I have been advised that you have issued 
a proclamation convening the Convention 
elected in 1864. 

"Please inform me under and by wnat 
authority this has been done, and by vrhat 
authority this Convention can assume to 
represent the whole people of the State of 
Louisiana. Andrew Johnson." 

GOVERNOR WELLS TO ANDREW JOHNSON. 

" New Orleans, July 2£, 1866. 
" To President Johnson : 

"Your telegram is received. I have, not 
issued a proclamation convening the Con- 
vention of 1864. This was done by the Pres- 
ident of that body, by virtue ol a resolution 



adjourning the Convention subject to his or- 
der, and in that case also authorizing him to 
call on the proper officers to issue writs of 
election in unrepresented parishe°. 

''My proclamation is in response to that 
call, ordering an election on the 3d of Sep- 
tember. As soon as the vacancies can be 
ascertained, an election will be held to fill 
them, when the entire State will be repre- 
sented. Your obedient servant, 

(Signea) "J. Madison Wells, 

"Governor of Louisana." 

SFNERAL BAIRD TO THE SECRETARY OF WAR. 

"Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, 

Washington : 

" A Convention has been called, wi*h the 
sanction of Governor Wells, to meet here on 
Monday. 

"The Lieutenant Governor and city au- 
thorities think it unlawful, and propose to 
break it up by arresting the delegates. I have 
given no orders on the subject, but have 
warned the parties that I could not permit 
such action without instructions to that ef 
feet from the President. Please instruct me i 
at rnce by telegraph. A. Baird, 

"Brevet Major General." 

THE REBEL ATTORNEY GENERAL TO ANDREW 
JOHNSON. 

New Orleans, July 20. 
44 To the President, Washington : 

"We are in the midst of a terrible riot, 
caused by the assembling of the Convention. 
Owing to the mixed condition of affairs 
amonij the State officers I see no hope of 
quiet without you give us a Military Gover- 
nor. Cannot General Granger act? 

"A. J. Hebron, 
" Attorney General." 

ANDREW JOHNSON TO THE REBEL ATTORNEY 
GENERAL. 

" Executive Mansion, ) 
" Washington, July b'0, 1866. ( 
*'A. J. Herron, Attorney General, New Or- 
leans : 

"You will call on General Sheridan, or the 
officer in command, for a sufficient force to 
sustain the civil authority in suppressing ail 
Illegal or unlawful assemblies who usurp or 
assume to exercise any power or authority 
from the people of the State. If there be a 
Convention, let it be composed of delegates 
chosen fresh from the people of the whole 
State. The people must be first consulted 
in regard to changing the organic law of the 
State, Usurpation will not be tolerated. 
The Taw and Constitution must be sustained, 
and thereby peace and order. 

"A. Johnson." 

THE REBEL LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR TO AN- 
DREW JOHNSON. 

"New Orleans, July 30. 
"To President Johnson ; 

"The Convention met. A riot has broken 
out in the city. So far, the police has the 
upper hand. Several white and colored per- 
sons arc killed. Called on General Baird for 
assistance, which is cheerfully tendered. 
Intense excitement. 

"Albert Voorhees, 
"Lieutenant Governor, La." 
general baird to the secretary op war. 

"New Orlsans. July 30—9 p. m. 
"To the Secretary of War : 
"A serious riot has occurred here to-day. 



I have been in full consultation with the city 
authorities, and have kept my troops well 
in hand for such an emergency. The riot 
commenced unexpectedly, " and before the 
troops could reach the scene of action a 
number of persons were killed and wounded. 
"I have felt compelled to declare martial 
law, and have appointed a Military Gov- 
ernor of the city. All is quiet now. Seve- 
ral prominent gentlemen connected with the 
Convention are killed or wounded. 

"A. Baird, Brevet Major General." 
same to same. 

"New Orleans. July 30. 
"E. M. Stanton : 

"Sir : I have the honor to inform you that 
a very serious riot has occurred here to-day. 
I had not been applied to by the Convention 
for protection, but the Lieutenant Governor 
and Mayor had freely consulted with me, 
and I was so fully cenviuced that it was so 
strongly the intent of the city authorities 
to preserve the peace, in order to prevent 
military interference that I did not regard 
an outbreak as a thing to be apprehended. 
The Lieutenant Governor assured me that 
even if a writ of arrest was issued by the 
court the Sheriff would not attempt to serve 
it without my permission, and for to-day 
they designed to suspend it. I ordered a 
steamer to be at Jackson Barracks, three 
miles below the city, at an early hour in the 
morning, and a tug to be ready to bear orders 
to the commanding officer of the First In- 
fantry, stationed at that point. At 11:30 p. 
m., Lieutenant Governor Voorhees came to 
see me, and after conversation, he feelinjj 
confident at the time of the ability of the 
police to preserve order, I proposed to bring 
to the city four companies an hour in ad- 
vance of the supposed meeting of the Con- 
vention, at six o'clock p. m., tobe kept near 
by in c se they should be required to keep 
clear the streets in the viciuity of the hall 
in which the Convention was to meet. He 
agreed with me that it would be very desire- 
able, but left, not apprehending the diffi- 
culty. 

"At twelve o'clock I drove to see Judge 
Howell, President of the Convention, to re- 
quest that arrangements might be made to 
keep any crowd that might assemble to pro- 
tect the Convention out of the streets, so as 
to avoid an accidental collision. When I 
reached his house I learned that the Conven- 
tion was to meet at twelve o'clock, and that 
he had gone to it. 

"Beturning to my headquarters, I soon re- 
ceived a letter from the Lieutenant Gover- 
nor, informing me that large parties of ne- 
groes were collecting from all quarters, and 
coming into the centre of the city, yet he was 
not sure of his information. However, I at 
once sent for the troops. Very soon after- 
wards I learned that a riot had taken place 
near the Convention hall, and I sent a staff 
officer to investigate the facts. On his re- 
turn he reported having met Judge Howell, 
who said the Convention had adjourned for 
want of a quorum, but would meet again at 
1:30 p. m. This reassured me, but I again 
sent to hasten the arrival of the troops. 

"Immediately after this the riot assumed a 
serious character ; the police, aided by citi- 
zens, became the assailants, and from the 
evidence, I am forced to believe, exercised 



6 



great brutality in making their arrests. Fi- 
nally, they attacked the Convention hall, 
and a protracted struggle ensued. The peo- 
ple inside th" hall gave up. Some, who sur- 
rendered, were attacked afterwards, and 
brutally treated. Quite a large number were 
injured — I cannot now sav how many — Gov- 
ernor llahu, Dr. Dostie, Mr. Fish, and per- 
haps other members of the Convention, 
among the number. 

"On the arrival of the troops, I soon clear- 
ed the streets, and order was restored. 

"From the evidence of the bad feelings of 
the citizens and of sympathy with them by 
the police, I. felt compelled to declare mar- 
tial law and appoint a Military Governor, 
from which I hope good results will ensue. 

"I enclose herewith copies of my corres- 
pondence with the Mayor, and a despatch 
which the Lieutenant Governor claims to 
have received from the President. 

"I regret that no reply to my despatch to 
you of .Saturday has yet reached me. Gen- 
eral Sheridan is still absent in Texas. 

"I ramain, sir, very respectfully, your 
obedient servant, A. Baird, 

"Brevet Major General." 

[The next despatch is that from General 
Sheridan to General Grant, which was muti- 
lated by the President, already given.] 

GENERAL SHERIDAN TO GENERAL GRANT. 

"New Orleans, Ausjusi 3. 1SG6. 

"General — The more information I ob- 
tain of the affair in this city, the more re- 
volting it becomes. It was no riot ; it was 
an absolute massacre by the police, which 
was not exceeded in its "murderous cruelty 
by that of Fort Pillow. It was a murder 
which the Mayor and police of the city per- 
petrated without a shadow of necessity. 
Furthermore, I believe it was premeditated 
and prearranged. 

" I recommend the removing of this bad 
man. I believe it would be hailed with the 
sincerest gratification by two-thirds of the 
population of the city. There has been a 
feeling of insecurity on the part of the peo- 
ple here on account of this man, which is 
now so much increased that the safety of life 
and property does not rest with the civil au- 
thority, but with the military. 

"P. H. Sheridan. 
" Major General Comm andin." 

SAME TO SAME. 

"New Orleans, La., Angust 3. 
"U.S.Grant: 

" General — T have the honor to report 
everything quiet in the city, but considerable 
excitement in the public mind. 

"There is no interference on the part of 
the military with the civil Government, 
which performs all its duties without hin- 
drance. I have permitted the retention of 
the Military Governor appointed during my 
absence, as it gives confidence, and enables 
the unitary to know what is occur- 
ring in the city. He does not interfere 
with city matters. Unless good judgment 
is exercised, there- will be an exodus of 
Northern capitalists and Union men, which 
will be injurious to the city and whole 
country. 

" I will remove the Military Governor in a 
day or two. I again advise that some dispo- 
sition be made to change the Mayor, as it 
would tend more to restore confidence than 



anything that could be done. If the present 
Governor could be changed also, it would not 
be amiss. P. Hi. Sheridan, 

" Major General Commanding." 

GENERAL GRANT TO GENERAL SHERIDAN. 

"Washington, August 3. 
" Major General Sheridan, New Orleans ; 

" Continue to enforce martial law so far as 
it may be necessary to preserve the peace, 
and do not allow any of the civil authorities 
to act, if you deem such action dangerous to 
the public safety. 

"Lose no time in investigating and report- 
ing the cause that led to' the riot, and the 
facts which occurred. U. S. Grant. 

"General." 

ANDREW JOHNSON TO GENERAL SHERIDAN. 

"Washington, Augnst4. 
"Major General Sheridan, Commanding New 
Orleans : 

" We have been apprised here that prior to 
the assembling of the illegal and unauthor- 
ized Convention elected in 1804, inflamma- 
tory, insurrectionary speeches were made to 
a mob composed of white and colored per- 
sons, urging on them to arm and equip them- 
selves for protecting and sustaining the Con- 
vention in its illegal and unauthorized pro- 
| ceedings, calculated to upturn and 
supersede the State Government of 
Louisiana, which had been recognized 
i by the Government of the United 
| States. Further, did the mob assemble, and 
I was it raised for the purpose of assisting the 
| Convention in its usurpation? Have any 
I arms been taken from persons since the 30th 
I ult., who were supposed or kuown to be con- 
! nected with this mob ? Have various indi- 
viduals been shot and killed by this mob 
without good cause, and in violation of the 
public pet ce and good order? Was not the 
assembling f this Convention and the 
gathering of the mob for protection the 
main cause of the riotous and unlawful pro- 
ceedings of the civil authorities of New 
Orleans ? Have steps been taken by the civil 
authorities to an est and try all those who 
were engaged in this riot, and those who 
have committed offences in violation of law ? 
Can ample justice be meted out by the city 
authorities to all offenders against the law ? 
Will the General please furnish me a brief 
reply to the above enquiries, with such other 
information as he may be in possession of by 
telegraph. Answer at your earliest con- 

„„,-,;,vr»,>Q AvnnT.w .TfiHvsrui ." 



venience. 



Andrew Johnson.' 



GENERAL SHERIDAN TO ANDREW JOHNSON. 

" New Orleans, La., August 6—12 M. 
" His Excellency, Andrew Johnson, Presi- 
dent of the United States : 
" I have the honor to make the following 
reply to your despatch of August 4 : A very 
large number of the colored people marched 
in procession on Friday night, July 27, and 
was addressed from the steps of the City 
Hall by Dr. Dostie, ex-Governor Hahn and 
others. The speeches of the others so 
far as I can learn, were characterized by 
moderation. I have not given you the 
words of Dostie's speech, as the version 
published wa3 denied, but from what I have 
learned of the man, I believe they were in- 
temperate. 

"The Convention assembled at 12 o'clock 
on the 27th, the timid members absenting 



themselves, because the tone of the public 
was ominous of trouble. I think there were 
about twenty-six members present in front 
of the Mechanics' Institute; where the 
meeting was held there were assembled some 
colored men, women and children — perhaps 
eighteen or tweuty, and in the Institute a 
number of colored men, probably fl.fi.y- 
Among those outside and inside there might 
have been a pistol in the possession of every 
tenth man. 

" About 1 p. m., a procession of say from 
fifty to one hundred and thirty colored men 
marched up Burgundy street and across 
Canal street toward the Convention, carry- 
ing the American flag. These men had 
about one pistol to every ten men, and canes 
and clubs in addition. While. crossing Canal 
street a row occurred. There were 
many spectators on the streets, aud 
their manner and tone. toward 
the procession was unfriendlv. A 
shot was fired, by whom I am not able to 
6tate, but believe it to have been by a police- 
man, or some colored man in the procession. 
On their arrival at the front of the Institute, 
there was some throwing of brickbats by 
both sides. The police who hod been held 
well in hand were vigorously marched to the 
scene of disorder. The procession then en- 
tered the Institute with the flag, about six 
or eight remaining outside. A row occurred 
between a policeman and one of these col- 
ored men, and a shot was again fired by one 
of the parties, which led to a indiscriminate 
fire on the building through the windows, by 
the policemeu. This had been going on for 
a short, time, when a white flag was displayed 
from the windows of the Institute, where- 
upon the firing ceased, and the police rnshed 
into the building. 

" The immediate cause of this terrible af- 
fair was the assemblage of this Convention. 
The real cause was the bitter antagonistic 
feeling which has been growing in the com- 
munity since the advent of the present May- 
or, who, in the organization of the police 
force, selected many desperate men, and 
some of them knov. n murderers. People of 
clear views were overawed by want of confi- 
dence in the Mayor and fear of the " Thugs," 
many of which he had selected for his police 
force. I have been frequently spoken to by 
prominent citizens on this subject, and have 
heard them express fear and want of confi- 
dence in Mayor Monroe ever since the intima- 
tion of this last Convention movement. 

" From the testimony of wounded men, 
and others who were inside the building, the 
police opened an indiscriminate fire upon 
the audienc e until they had emptied 
their revolvers, when they retired, and 
those inside barricaded tne doors. The door 
was broken, and the firing again com- 
menced when many of the colored and white 
people escaped through the door, or were 
passed out by the policemen inside, but as 
they came out the policemen, who formed a 
circle nearest the building, fired upon them, 
and they were again fired upon by the citi- 
zens that formed the outer circle. Many of 
these were wounded and taken prisoners, 
and those not wounded were fired upon by 
their captors and by citizens. The wounded 
were stabbed while lying on the ground, and 
their hands beaten with brickbats. In the 



yard of the building, whither some of the 
colored men had escaped and partially 
secreted themselves, they were fired upon 
aud killed or wounded by policemen. Some 
men were killed and wounded several 
squares from the scene. Members of the 
convention were wounded by the policemen 
while in their hands as prisoners, some of 
them mortally. 

" I must condemn the course of several of 
the city papers for supporting, by their ar- 
ticles, the bitter feeling of bad men. As to 
the merciless manner in which the Conven- 
tion was broken up, I feel obliged to confess 
strong repugnance. 

" It is useless to attempt to disguise the 
hostility that exists on the part of a great 
many here toward Northern men. This un- 
fortunate affair has so precipitated matters 
that it is a test of what shall be the status of 
Northern men — whether they can live here 
without being in constant dread or not ; 
whether they can be protected in life and 
property, and have justice in the courts. If 
this matter is permitted to pass over with- 
out a thorough and determined prosecution 
of those engaged in it, we may look out for 
frequent scenes of the same kind, not only 
here, but in other places. 

"No steps have as yet been taken by the 
civil authorities to arrest the citizens who 
were engaged in the massacre, or policemen 
who perpetrated such cruelties. The mem- 
bers of the Convention have been indicted 
by the grand jury, and many of them ar- 
rested and held to bail. As to whether the 
civil authorities can mete out ample justice 
to the guilty parties, on both sides, I must 
say it is my opinion, unequivocally, they 
cannot. Judge Abel, whose course I have 
closely watched for nearly a year. I now con- 
sider one of the most dangerous men that 
we have here to the peact «>,nd quiet of the 
city. The leading men of the convention, 
fling Cutler, Hnhn and othe.-s, have been 
political agitators, and are bad men. 

"I rev ret to say that the course of Gover- 
nor Wells has been vacillating, and that dur- 
ing the late trouble he has shown very little 
of the man. 

(Signed) " P. H. Sheridan, 

" Major General Commanding." 



The two last despatches quoted above, 
bring us to the crowning act of baseness on 
the part of Andrew Johnson. Union men 
peaceably assembling in convention having 
been murdered by the rebels of New Or- 
leans — those murders not only having been 
permitted by the President, but the army hav- 
ing been directed to aid the assassins ; the 
testimony furnished by Geueral Sheridan's 
despatch of August 3d, placing the responsi- 
bility where it properly belonged, declaring 
that, the more information was obtained of 
the affair, the more revolting it became, that 
it was no riot, but was an absolute massacre 
by the police which was not exceeded in 
murderous cruelty by that of Fort Pillow, 
that it was a murder perpetrated by the 
Mayor and police of the city without a shad- 
ow of necessity, premeditated and prear- 
ranged ; it became necessary that 
the chief malefactor should relieve 
himself of this weight of evidence 
against him, and that new evidence should 



8 



be manufactured to his purpose. Accord- 
ingly, on the 4th day of August, the day 
after Sheridan had telegraphed Grant, An- 
drew Johnson forwarded to General Sheridan 
a series of leading: questions, indicating the 
nature and kind of answers which he de- 
sired, amounting to all intents and purposes, 
to an order to Sheridan that they be an- 
swered in the manner indicated. He 
said first : 

"We have been apprised here that prior to the 
assembling of the illegal and unauthorized Con- 
vention elected in 1804, inflammatory, insurrec- 
tionary speeches were made to a mob composed 
of white and colored persons, urging on them to 
arm and nquip themselves for protecting and sus- 
taining the Convention in Us illegal and unau- 
thorized proceedings." 

Who apprised Andrew Johnson of these 
facts? The rebels Herron and Voor- 
hees. vV ho authorized Andrew Johnson to 
declare that the Convention was illegal and 
unauthorized and to stigmatize its members 
as a mob ? The rebels Voorhees and Herron. 
This was Andrew Johnson's authority, and 
upon it he acted. After laying down this 
platform, he proceedec' to interrogate Gene- 
ral Sheridan in this fashion : " Did the mob 
assemble, and was it raised f r the purpose 
of assisting the Convention in its usutpalion." 
General Sheridan had already sufficiently 
given his views of the Convention and its 
friends. Neither of them were a moo in his 
estimation, but his superior declared by 
the wording of his interrogatories 
that the friends of tne Convention 
were a mob, and that the Conven- 
tion itself contemplated usurpation. He 
said by plain implication, "I order you to 
answer accordingly." He proceeds, and 
there is an impudence of manner and a base 
criminality and savagery in the question 
almost incredible, u Have various individuals 
been shot and killed by tuis mob without good 
cause, and in violation of the public peace 
and good order ?" The mob to which he 
refers was the Convention and its friends. 
The individuals were the police and eitv 
authorities whom Sheridan had denounced 
as murderers. But (ieneral Sheridan must 
change Lis views and answer the question, 



not according to the facts, but in harmony 
with the wishes of his superior. Observe, 
that no information is asked, whether 
Union men had been unnecessarily slaugh- 
tered. To these facts, to the existence of 
which abundant evidence was before him, he 
paid no heed, and conceruing them he had 
no care, but his anxiety was to protect the 
murderers whom his own hands had armed, 
and to hide the murders that his own orders 
had instigated, He asks also whether steps 
had been taken by the civil authorities, 
whom Sheridan the day before had stigma- 
tized as murderers, to arrest and try all 
those engaged in this riot, which Sheridan 
had already advised him was uot a riot but 
a massacre. In other words, he desires 
to know of General Sheridan whether 
the murderers had succeeded in ar- 
resting all those whom they had not 
succeeded in killing ! The putting of ques- 
tions framed as these are, would not be per- 
mitted in any court of justice in Christen- 
dom, and none but an impudent shyster 
would make the attempt. But when the 
questioner not only indicates the answer 
which he desires, but is the superior, having 
authority to punish the witness, there is an 
infamy in the attempt, worse than mere 
subornation of perjury, and which, if prac- 
ticed in a court of justice, would commit the 
offender to the penitentiary. Endeavoring 
thus to distort the facts and belie history, 
and being baffled in the attempt, he sup- 
pressed the despatch of General Sheridan, 
and awaited an answer to his own. The 
nation has reason to be thankful that in 
General Sheridan the apostate had no weak- 
kneed, lily-livered postmaster to deal with. 
General Sheridan had fought treason before, 
and he knew how to deal with it. Instead 
of answering the President's questions in 
the terms indicated by the latter, he pro- 
ceeded to give a plain, unvarnished narra- 
tive of the whole tragedy, putting the guilt 
upon the head of the mayor, and inferential- 
ly upon that of Andrew Johnson himself, 
who had pardoned this notorious villain, so 
that he might assume the duties of the 
office. 



Andrew Johnson's 

Andrew Johnson has recently made a pil- 
grimage to the tomb of Stephen A. Douglas, 
on an invitation to assist in laying t^e corner'- 
stone of the Douglas Monument. He con- 
verted this solemn journey into a disgraceful 
political wake. He commenced making 
speeches in behalf of '.'my policy," on the 
first day, and continued to do so until he ar- 
rived in Chicago. One of the most remark- 
able of these speeches was delivered at Cleve- 
land on Monday evening, September 3d. 
The following is a verbatim report of the 
speech : 

"Fellow-citizens: We are on our way 
to Chicago, to participate in, or witness 
the laying of the corner-stone of a monu- 
ment to the memory of a distinguished fel- 
low-citizen who is now no more. It is not 
necessary for me to mention the name of 
Stephen A. Douglas to the people of Ohio. 
I am free to «ay that I am flattered by the 
demonstrations I have witnessed, and being 
flattered, I don't mean to think it personal, 
but as an evidence of what is pervading the 



Speech at Cleveland. 

public mind, and this demonstration is noth- 
ing more nor less than an indication of the 
latent sentiment or feeling of the great 
masses of the people with rejrard to this 
great question. I come before you as an 
American citizen simply, and not as Chief 
Magistrate, clothed in the insignia and 
paraphernalia of State — being an inhabitant 
of a State of this Union. I know that it 
has been said that I was an alien ; [laugh- 
ter,] and that I did not reside in one of the 
States of the Union, and therefore I could 
not be the Chief Magistrate, though the 
Censtitution declares that I must be a citi- 
zen to occupy that office. Therefore all that 
was necessary to depose its occupant was to 
declare the office vacant, or under a pretext 
to prefer the articles of impeachment. And 
thus the individual who occupies the Chief 
Magistracy was to be disposed of and driven 
from power. There was, two years ago, a 
ticket before you for the Presidency. I was 
placed upon that ticket with a distinguished 
citizen, nownomore. [Voices — 'It'sapity ;" 



9 



"Too bad;" "Unfortunate."] Yes, I l'now 
there are some who say "unfortunate." Yes, 
unfortunate for some that God rules on high 
and deals in justice. [Cheers.] Yes, unfor- 
tunate ! The ways of Providence are myste- 
riour and incomprehensible, controlling all 
those who exclaim "unfortunate." [Bully for 
you.] I was going to say, my countrymen, a 
short time since I was elected and placed 
upon the ticket. There was a platform pro- 
claimed and adopted by those who placed 
me upon it. Notwithstanding a mendacious 
press ; notwithstanding a subsidized gang of 
hirelings who have not ceased to traduce 
me, I have discharged all my official duties, 
and fulfilled all my pledges. And I say here 
to-night that if my predecessor had lived, 
the vials of wrath would have poured out 
upon him. [Cries of "Never!" "Never!" 
and three cheers for the Congress of the 
United States.] I came here as I was passing 
along, and having been called upon for the 
purpose of exchanging views, and ascertain- 
ing, if we could, who was wrong. [Cries, 
"You are !"] That was my ebject in ap- 
pearing before you to-night. I want to say 
that I have lived among the American peo- 
ple, and have represented them in some 
public capacity for the last twen- 
ty-five years. ' Where is the man 
or woman who can place his finger 
npon one single act of mine, deviating from 
any pledges of mine or in violation of the 
Constitution of the country. [Cries of "New 
Orleans!"] Who is he? — what language 
does he speak ? — what religion does he pro- 
fess — that can come and place his finger upon 
one pledge I ever violated, or one principle I 
ever proved false to? [Voice, "New Or- 
leans!" Another, " Whv don't you hang 
Jeff. Davis ? "] Hang Jeff. Davis ? [Shouts 
and cries of "Down with him!"] Hang 
Jeff. Davis? [Voice, "Hang Wendell Phil- 
lips ! "] Why don't you hang him ? [Cries 
of "Give us an opportunity! "] Haven't you 
got the court ? Haven't you got the Attor- 
ney General? Who is your Chief Justice? 
Who has refused to sit on his trial ? [Groans 
and cheers.] /am not the Chief Justice ! I 
am not the Attorney General ! I am no 
jury ! But I'll tell you what I did do. I 
called upon your Congress, that is 
trying to break up the Government. 
[Hisses, and cries of "A lie ! " Great con- 
fusian. Voice, "Don't get mad ! "] I am not 
mad. [Hisses.] I willtell you who is mad. 
"Whom the Gods want to destroy they first 
make mad." Did your Congress order any 
of them to be tried ? [Three cheers for Con- 
gress.] Then, fellow-citizens, we might as 
well allay our passion and premit reason to 
resume her empire and prevail. In present- 
ing the frw remarks that I designed to make, 
my intention was to address myself to your 
common sense, your judgment, your better 
feelings, not to the passion and malignancy 
ofyourhearts. [Voice, "How about Moses?"] 
This was my object in presenting myself on 
this occasion, and to say "how dye" and 
"good bye." In the assembly here to-night, 
the remark has been made "traitor!" 
"Traitor,"my countrymen? Will yon hear me? 
[Cries, " Yes'!"] And will you hear me for 
my cause and for the Constitution of my 
country ? ["Yes ? Yes ! Go on !"] I want to 
know when, or where, or under what circum- 



! stances Andrew Johnson, not as Executive, 
but in any capacity, ever deserted any 
principle, or violated the Constitution of this 
country. Let me ask this large and intelli- 
gent audience if your Secretary of State, who 
served four years under Mr. Lincoln, and 
who was placed upon the butcher's block, as 
it were, and hacked and gashed all to pieces, 
scarred by the assassin's knife — when he 
turned traitor? If I were disposed to play 
the actor, and deal in declamation, even to- 
night I would imitate one of the ancient 
tragedies, and would take Mr. Seward, bring 
him before you, and point to the hacks ana 
scars upon his person. I would exhibit the 
bloody garments, saturated with gore from 
his gaping wounds. Then I would ask yon 
who is the traitor! [Voice, "Thad. Stevens!"! 
Why don'ft you hang Thad. Stevens and 
Wendell Phillips? [Hisses.] I have been 
fighting traitors in the South. They have been 
■ whipped and crushed. They acknowledge 
their defeat and accept the terms of the Con- 
stitution. And now, as I go round the cir- 
i cle, having fought traitors at the South, I 
' am prepared to fight them at the North, 
God being willing, with your help. [Cries, 
"We won't give it."] They will be crushed 
North, and this glorious Union of ours will 
I be preserved. I do not come here as the 
Chief Magistrate of twenty-five States out of 
thirty-six. I come here to-night with the 
flag of my country and the constellation of 
thirty-six stars untarnished. Are you for 
' dividing this country ? [Cries, -"No !"] Then 
i I am President, and President of the whole 
S United States. [Cheers.] I will tell you 
] another thing. I understand the discordant 
I Dotes in this crowd to-night. He who is 
' opposed to the restoration of the Govern- 
j ment and the Union of the States is a 
i greater traitor than Jeff. Davis or Wendell 
Phillips. I am against both of them. [Cries. 
"Give it to them !"] Some of you talk aboui 
traitors in the South, who have not courage 
to go away from your nomes to fight them. 
[Laughter and cheers.] The courageous 
men, Grant, Sherman, Farragut, and 
the long list of the distinguished 
sons of the Union, were in the field, 
and led on their gallant hosts to conquest 
and to victorv, while you remained cowardly 
at home. [Applause, "Bully."] Now when 
these I rave men have returned home, many 
of whom have left an arm or a leg or their 
blood upon many a battle-field, they found 
you at home, speculating and committing 
frauds upon the Government. [Laughter and 
cheers.] You pretend now to havu great re- 
spect and sympathy for the poor brave man 
who has left an arm on the battle-tied. [Cries; 
" Is this dignified?"] I understand you. You 
may talk about the dignity of the President. 
[Cries, " How was it about making a speech 
on the 22d of February ?"] I have been with 
you on the battle-fields of this country, (?) 
and I can tell you furthermore, to-night, who 
have to pay these brave men who shed their 
blood. Yon speculated, and now the great 
i masses of the people have got to work it out. 
It is time that the great mass of the Ameri- 
can people shonld understand what your 
designs are. [A voice, " What did Gene- 
ral Butler sav ?"] What did General 
Butler 6ay ? [Hisses.] What did Gene- 
ral Grant say ? [cheers] and what does 



10 



General Grant pay about General Butler? 
What does General Sherman say ? [A voice, 
"What does Sheridan say! New Orleans! 
New Orleans !"] General Sheridan says that 
he is for tlie restoration of the Government 
that General Sheridan fought for. But fel- 
low citizens, let this all pass. I care not for 
my dignity. There is a certain portion of 
onr countrymen will respect a citizen where- 
ever he is entitled to respect. There is an- 
other class that have no respect for them- 
selves, and consequently they cannot respect 
anyone else. I know a man and a gentleman 
whenever I meet him. I have only to look 
in his face, and if I was to see yours by the 
light of day, I do not 'doubt but that I 
should see cowardice and treachery written 
upon it. Come out here where I can 
eee you. If you ever shoot a man you 
will do it in the dark, and pull 'the 
trigger when no one is by to see. I un- 
derstand traitors. I have been fighting them 
at the southern end of the line, and "we are 
now fighting them in the other direction. 
As Chiff Magistrate I felt, after taking the 
oaith to support the Constitution, and when 
I saw encroachments upon your Constitu- 
tional rights, I dared to sound the tocsin of 
alarm. Then if this be right, the head and 
front of my offending is in telling when the 
Constitution of my country was trampled 
upon. Let me say to those who thirst for 
more blood, who are still willing: to sacrifice 
human life, if you want a victim, and the 
country requires it, erect your altar and lay 
me upon it to pour the last libation to hu- 
man freedom. [Loud cries of "Bah!"] I 
love my count'-v. Everv public act of mv 
life testifies that 'it is so. '["No!" "No!"] 
Where is the man that can put his 
finger upon any one act of mine 
that goes to prove to the contrary ? 
And what is my offending ? [Cries of 
"Veto!"] Somebody says"veto. Veto of 
what? What is called the Freedmen's Bu- 
reau Bill ? I can tell you what it is. Before 
the rebellion commenced there were four 
millions of slaves and about eight millions 
white people living in the South. These 
latter paid expenses, bought the lands and 
cultivated them, and after the crops were 
gathered, pocketed the profits. That's the 
way the thing stood lip to the rebellion. The 
rebellion commenced, the slaves were liber- 
ated, and then came the Freedmen's Bmeau 
Bill. [Cries, "You opposed emancipation."] 
This provides for the appointment of 
agents and sub-agents in all States, 
counties and school districts, who have 
power to make contracts for the freed- 
men, and to hire them out, and to 
use the military power to carry them into 



execution. The cost of this to the people 
was twelve millions of dollars at the begin- 
ning. The further expense would be greater 
(not true), and you are to be taxed for it. 
That is why I vetoed it. I might refer to the 
Civil Rights bill, which is even more atro- 
eions. [Groans and hisses.] I tell you, my 
countrymen, that though the powers of hell 
and Thad. Stevens and his gang were by, 
they could not turn me from my purpose. 
There is no power that could turn me except 
the God who spoke me into existence. ' 

" In conclusion, he said that Congress had 
taken mnch pains to poison their consti- 
tuents against him. But what had Congress 
done ? Have they done anything to restore 
the Union of these states ? No, on the con- 
trary, they had done everything to prevent 
it ; and, because he stood now where he did 
before the rebellion commenced, he had been 
denounced as a traitor. Who had run greater 
risks or made greater sacrifices than himself? 
[Cries, "What sacrifices did you make?"] 
But Congress, factious and dorriineeriug, had 
taken to joisoning the minds of the Ameri- 
can people. It was with them a question of 
power. Every friend of theirs who holds an 
office as assessor, collector or postmaster, 
[A Voice — " Turn Benedict out !"] wanted to 
retain his place. Rotation in office used to 
be thought a good doctrine by Washington, 
Jefferson and Adams ; and Andrew Jackson, 
God bless him, thought so. [Cries — You are 
turning out Republicans and putting in Cop- 
perheads.] This gang of office-holders — these 
blood-suckers and cormorants — had got fat 
on the country. You have got them over 
your district. Hence vou see a system of 
legislation proposed that these men shall not 
be turned out ; and the President, the only 
channel through which they can be 
reached, is called a Tyrant. He thought 
the time had come when those who 
had enjoyed fat offices for four years 
should give way for those who had fought 
for the country. Hence it was seen why he 
was assailed and traduced. He had stood 
by them in the field [what field?] and, God 
willing, he would continue to stand by 
them. While referring to the question of 
suffrage, some one in the crowd asked him 
"How about Louisiana ?" To which he res- 
ponded, "Let the negroes vote in Ohio be- 
fore you talk about "their voting in Louis- 
iana." [Laughter, and cries of 'Most of 
them can and do.'] Take the beam out of 
your own eye before you see the mote in 
your brothers. [Renewed laughter.] In 
conclusion, after some further remarks, he 
invoked God's blessing on his hearers. 
[Laughter.] 



Resolutions of the Grand Army of the Repnbllc at Springfield, Illinois, on 

Andrew Johnson. 



SrniNCFirLD, 111., August 26, 18 6. 

At the regular weekly meeting of the 
Springfield Post of the Grand Army of the 
Republic, held in their hall this evening, 
the following preamble and resolutions 
were unanimously adopted : 

Whereas, The President of the United 
States did, in obedience to the express wish 
Of Congiess, on a recent ( ccasion, announce 
it as a ] art of the Executive "policy," that 
the soldiers of the Union should be appoint- 



ed to places of honor and trust under tho 
Government, and that thus treason should 
be made " odious," and rebels and traitors 
made to take "back seats," Ac, a policy 
which was then heartily, endorsed by every 
soldier of the Union army ; ami 
Whereas Notwithstanding this announce- 

j ment, many good Union office holders 
against who'se ability and integrity no accu- 

, salion had been brought, have been removed 
from such offices, and, in numerous in- 



11 



stances, persons appointed thereto whose 
sympathy with rebels and traitors during, 
and since the rebellion, has been undis- 
guised and notorious, while the faithiul 
Union soldiers have been studiously neglect- 
ed, overlooked and ignored : and 

Whereas, It has come to the knowledge of 
this post of the G. A. R. that one Edward L. 
Merritt, formerly editor of a notorious rebel- 
sympathising sheet in Southern Illinois, now 
editor and proprietor of a daily newspaper 
published in tne city of Springfield, of known 
and undisguised rebel principles, has been ap- 
pointed by the President of the United 
States, Pension Agent of the pension dis- 
trict of this State, & position of large emolu- 
ment and great trust, and one which relates 
exclusively to the soldiers, and for which 
Beveral honorably discharged and competent 
veterans had made application ; and 

Wheras, The said M -rritt in said newspa- 
papers did, both openly and covertly, advo- 
cate desertion from the ranks of the Union army, 
and resistance to the lawful "draft " for the. re- 
cruiting of the depleted ranks of the same,, and 
did also in said newspapers traitorously, vil- 
lainously ancl persistently slander, malign 
and traduce the soldiers of the Republic a9 
"vandals," "mercenaries," "Lincoln hire- 
lings," "Sherman bummers," "thieves," 
"murderer," indcendiaries," whose motto 
was " beauty and booty," and did heap upon 
their heads every vile and opprobrious epithet 
that could be conceived or imagined by his 
traitorous and malignant brain and 
so thoroughly and notoriously was 
he in "sympathy with the in- 
surgents, that he never failed to manifest 
the most jubilant feelings over rebel victories 
and to disparage, sneer at and mourn over 
the success of "the Union arms; all of which 



can be abundantly established by a reference 
to the flies of said newspapers, edited and 
published be the said Merritt, and, to which 
the members of this Post have access ; Now, 
therefore be it 

Resolved, That in this appointment the 
President of the United States has not only 
falsified his own avowed policy, and set at 
naught the express will of Congress, but has 
openly and wantonly insulted and outraged 
the feelings and sense of honor and self- 
respect of the Union soldiers of ?aid pension 
district, and at the same time done despite 
to the memory of our martyred comrades. 

Resolved, That in this appointment we see 
treason made not "odious" but respectable, 
and traitors advanced to front "seats," 
while loyalty to the flag of our country is 
made "odious," and to have bom aims in its 
defence is thus made cause for proscription. 
Resolved, That we call upon our fellow- 
soldiers all over the State of Illinois to re- 
sent this base insult to us, and to the 
widows and orphaned children of our fallen 
comrades, no one of whom in this District 
I can receive a fraction of the provision made 
i for them by the Government, ~xcept as it 
i passes through the hands of the vile tra- 
ducer and slanderer of the noble dead, whose 
; memory is still fresh among us, and who 
! have bequeathed to us the guardianship of 
their honor, and the proud remembrance of 
their gallant deeds. 

Resolved, That the Adjutant of this Post 
be, and he is hereby instructed to commu- 
nicate with every Post and District of this 
organization in the counties embraced in 
this Pension District, with a view to the 
adoption of such measures as shall secure a 
united expression of sentiment upon the 
subject of the foregoing resolutions. 



Address of the Southern Loyalists' Convention to tne People of the United States. 



The Representatives of 8,030,000 of Ameri- 
can citizens appeal for protection and jus- 
tice to their friends and brothers in the 
States that have been spared the cruelties of 
the Rebellion and the direct horrors of civil 
war. Here, on the spot where Freedom was 
proffered and pledged by the Fathers of the 
Republic, we implore your help against a 
reorganized oppression, whose sole object is 
to remit the control of our destinies to the 
contrivers of the Rebellion after they have 
been vanquished in honorable battle ; thus 
at once to punish us for our devotion to our 
country and to entrench themselves in the 
official fortifications of the Government. 

Others have related the thrilling story of 
our wrongs from reading and observation. 
We come before you as unchallenged . wit- 
nesses, and speak from personal knowledge 
our sad experience. If you fail us, we are 
more utterly deserted and. betrayed than if 
the contest had been decided against us ; 
for in that case even victorious Slavery would 
have found profit in the speedy pardon of 
those who had been among its bravest, foes. 
Unexpected perfidy in the highest place in 
the Government, accidentally filled by one 
who adds cruelty to ingratitude, and forgives 
the guilty as he proscribes the innocent, has 
stimulated the almost extinguished revenge 
of the beaten conspirators, and now the 
rebels, who offered to yield everything^ to 
save their own lives, are seeking to consign 



us to bloody graves. Where we expected a 
benefactor we find a persecutor. 

Having lost our champion, we return to 
you, who can make Presidents and punish 
traitors. Our last hope, under God, is in the 
unity and firmness of the States that elected 
Abraham Lincoln and defeated Jefferson Da- 
vis. The best statement of our case is the 
appalling yet unconscious confession of An- 
drew Johnson, who, in savage ha'. red of his 
own record, proclaims his purpose to clothe 
four millions of traitors with the power to 
impoverish and degrade eight millions of 
loyal men. 

Our wrongs bear alike on all races, and our 
tyrants, unchecked by you, will award the 
same fate to white and black. We can re- 
main as we are only as inferiors and victims. 
We may fly from our homes, but we 
6hould fear to trust our fate with those who, 
after denouncing and defeating treason, re- 
fuse to right those who have bravely assisted 
them in the good work. Till we are wholly 
rescued there is neither peace for you nor 
prosperity for us. 

We cannot better define at once our wrongs 
and our wants than by declaring that since 
Anurew Johnson affiliated with his early 
slanderers and our constant enemies, his 
hand has been laid heavily upon every ear- 
nest loyalist in the South. History, the just 
judgment of the present, and the certain 



12 



confirmation of the future, invite and com- 
mand us to declare : 

That after rejecting: his own remedies for 
restoring the Union,"he has resorted to the 
weapons of traitors to bruise and beat down 
patriots ; 

That after declaring that none but the 
loyal should govern the reconstructed South, 
he has practiced upon the maxim that none 
but traitors shall rule ; 

That while in the North he has removed 
conscientious men from office, and filled ma- 
ny of the vacancies with the sympathizers of 
treason, in the South he has removed the 
proved and trusted patriot and selected the 
equallv proved and convicted traitor ; 

That after brave men, who had fought for 
the old flajr, have been nominated for posi- 
tions, their names have been recalled and 
avowed rebels substituted ; 

That every original Unionist in the South 
who stands fast to Andrew Johnson's cove- 
nants from 1861 to 1865, has been ostracised ; 

That he has corrupted the local Courts by 
offering premiums for defiance of the 
laws of Congress, and by openly discourag- 
ing the observance of the oath against trea- 
son ; 

That while refusing to punish one single 
conspicuous traitor, though thousands had 
earned the penalty of death, more than a 
thousand of devoted Union citizens have 
been murdered in cold blood since the sur- 
render of Lee, and in no case have their 
assassins been brought to judgment ; 

That he has pardoned some of the worst of 
the rebel criminals North and South, includ- 
ing some who have taken human life under 
circumstances of unparalleled atrocity; 

That while denouncing and fettering the 
operations of the Freedmen's Bureau, he, 
with a full knowledge of the falsehood, has 
charged that the black men are lazy and re- 
bellious, aud concealed the fact that more 
whites than blacks have been protected and 
fed bv that noble organization, and that, 
while declaring that it was corruptly man- 
aged and expensive to the Government, he 
has connived at a system of piofligacy in the 
use of the public patronage and public mo- 
ney wholly without parallel save when the 
traitors bankrupted the Treasury, and sought 
to disorganize and scatter the army and the 
navy only to make it more easy to capture 
and'destroy the Government ; 

That while declaring against the injustice 
of leaving eleven States unrepresented, he 
has refused to authorize the liberal plan of 
Congress, simply because it recognizes the 
loyal majority and refuses to perpetuate the 
traitor minority ; 

That in every State south of Mason and 
Dixon's line his " policy " has wrought the 
most deplorable consequences — social, moral 
and political. It has emboldened returned 
rebels to threaten civil war in Maryland, 
Missouri, West Virginia and Tennessee unless 
the patriots who saved and sealed these 
States to the old flag surrendered before their 
arrogant demands. It has corrupted high 
Sta'e officials, elected by Union men, and 
sworn to enforce the laws against returned 
rebels, and made them the mere instruments 
of the authors of the rebellion. It has en- 
couraged a new alienation between the sec- 
tions, and by impeding immigration to the 



South has erected a formidable barrier 
against free and friendly intercourse with the 
North and West. It has allowed the rebel 
soldiery to persecute the teachers of the 
colored schools, and to burn the churches in 
which the freedmen have worshipped the 
living God. That a system so barbarous 
6hould have culminated in the frightful riot 
at Memphis, and the still more appalling 
massacre at New Orlaans was as natural as 
that a bloody war should flow from the 
teachings of John C. Calhoun and Jefferson 
Davis. Andrew Johnson is responsible for 
all these unspeakable cruelties, and as he 
provoked so he justifies and applauds them. 
Sending his agents and emissaries into this 
refined and patriotic metropolis, to insist 
upon making his reckless policy a test upon 
a Christian people, he forgot that the protec- 
tion extended to the 14th of August Conven- 
tion in Philadelphia was not only denied to 
the free people of New Orleans on the 30th of 
July, when they assembled to discuss how 
best to protect themselves, but denied amid 
the slaughter of hundreds of innocent men- 
No page" in the record of his recent outrages 
upon human justice and constitutional law is 
more revolting than that which convicts him 
of refusing to arrest the preparations for that 
savage carnival, and not only of refusing to 
punish its authors, but of toiling to throw 
the guilty responsibility upon unoffending 
and innocent freedmen. The infatuated ty- 
rant that stood ready to crush his own peo- 
ple, in Tennessee, when they were struggling 
to maintain a Government, erected by him- 
self, against his and their traitor persecu- 
tions, was even more eager to illustrate his 
savage policy, by clothing with the most 
despotic power the rebels of New Orleans^ 
Notwithstanding this heartless desertion and 
cruel persecution by Andrew Johnson, iu the 
States of Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Western Virginia, Maryland, and Dela- 
ware, Democratic Republican principles — 
principles which the fathers of the 
Republic designed for all America— are now 
making determined battle with the enemies 
of free Constitutional Government, and, by 
the blessing of God, these States will soon 
range themselves in line with the former free 
States, and illustrate the wisdom and benefi- 
cence of the great Charter of American Liber- 
ty by their increasing population, wealth, 
and prosperity. In the remaining States, the 
seeds of oligarchy, planted in the Constitu- 
tion by its slavery features, have grown to be 
a monstrous power. Recognition thus 
wrung from the reluctant framers of that 
great instrument, enabled these States to en- 
trench themselves behind the perverted doc- 
trine of State rights, and sheltered by the 
claim of Constitutional Obligation to main- 
tain slavery in the States, presented to the 
American Government the alternative of oli- 
garchy with slavery or Democratic Republi- 
can Government without slavery. A for- 
bearing Government, bowing to a supposed 
constitutional behest, acquiesced in the 
former alternative. The hand of the Govern- 
ment was stayed for eighty years. The prin- 
ciples of constitutional liberty languished 
for want of Government support. Oligarchy 
matured its power with subtle design. Its 
history for eighty years is replete with unpar- 
alleled injuries and usurpations; it developed 



13 






only the agricultural localities, geographical- 
ly distinct from the free-labor localities, and 
less than one-third of the whole, with African 
slaves. It held 4,000,000 of human beings as 
chattel', yet made them the basis of unjust I are contriving 1 
power for themselves in Federal and State 
Governmeuts, to maintain their enslave- 
ment. It excluded millions of free white la- 
borers from the richest agricultural lands of 
the world, forced them to remain inactive 
and unproductive on the mineral, manufac- 
turing and lumber localities,comprising two- 
thirds of the whole South in square miles 
and real undeveloped wealth, simply be-ause 
these localities were agriculturally too 
poor for slave labor. Condemned them 
Co agriculture on unagricultural terri- 
tory, and consigned them to unwilling ig- 
norance and poverty by denying capital and 
strangling enterprise. It repelled the capi- 
tal, energv, will and skill of the free States 
from the free-labor localities, by unmitigated 
intolerance and proscription— thus guard- 
ing the approaches to their slave 
domain against democracy. Statute I 
hooks groaned uuder despotic laws i 
against unlawful and insurrectionary assem- I 
biies, aimed at the Constitutional guaranties | 
of the right to peaceably assemble and peti- ; 
tion for a redress of grievances. It proscri- | 
bed democratic literature as incendiary, nul- I 
lified constitutional guaranties of freedom and i 
free speech and a free press. It deprived 
citizens of the other States of the privileges 
and immunities in these States— an injury and 
usurpation, alike unjust to Northern citizens 
and destructive ot the best interests of the 
States themselves. Alarmed at the progress 
of democracy in the face of every discourage- 
ment, at last it sought immunity by seces- 
sion and war. The heart sicRens with con- 
templation of the four years that followed ; 
forced loaus, impressments, conscriptions 
with bloodhounds and bayonets ; the mur- 
der of aged Union men who had loug laid 
aside the implements of labor, but had been 
summoned anevr to the field by the 
conscription of their sous to support 
their children and grandchildren 
reduced from comfort to the verge of starva- 
tion ; the slaughter of noble youths ; types 
of physical manhood forced into an unholy 
war against those with whom they were 
identified by every interest ; long months of 
incarceration in rebel bastiles ; banishment 
from homes rud hearthstones, are but a par- 
tial recital of the long catalogue of horrors. 
Bat democracy North and South combined 
defeated them. They lost. What did they 
lose? The cause of oligarchy ? They lost 
African slavery by name only. Soon as the 
tocisn of war ceased, soon as the clang of 
arms was hushed, they raise the cry of im- 
mediate admission, and with that watchword 
seek to organize under new forms a contest 
to perpetuate their unbridled sway. They 
rehabilitate their sweeping control of 
all local and State organizations. The Fed- 
eral Executive, easily seduced, yields a will- 
ing obedience to his old masters ; aided by 
his unscrupulous disregard of Constitution 
and laws, by his "merciless proscrip- 
tion of true democratic opinion, 
and by a'l his appliances of despotic 
power, they now defiantly enter the lists in 
the loyal North, and seek to wring from free- 



men an endorsement of their wicked de- 
signs. Every foul agency is at work to 
accomplish this result. Falsely professing 
to assent to the abolition of slavery, they 
continue its detestable 
power by legislative acts against pretended 
vagrants; they know that any form of ser- 
vitude will answer their unholy purpose. 
They pronounce the four years war a bril- 
liant sword scene iu the great revolutionary 
drama. Proscriptive public sentiment holds 
high carnival, and, profiting by the example 
of the Presidential pilgrim, breathes out 
threatenings of slaughter against loyalty, 
ignores and denounces all legal restraints, and 
assails with the tongue of malignant slan- 
der, tiie constitutionally chosen representa- 
tives of the people. To still the voice of 
Liberty, dangerous alone to tyrants, mid- 
night conflagrations, assassinations and mur- 
ders in open day are called to their aid ; a 
reign of terror through all these ten 
States makes loyalty stand silent in the 
presence of treason, or whisper in bated 
breath. Strong men hesitate openly to 
speak for liberty, and decline to atteud a 
Convention at Philadelphia for fear of de- 
struction. But all Southern men are not 
yet awed into submission to treason, and we 
have assembled from all these States, de- 
termined that liberty, when endangered, 
shall find a mouth-piece, and that the Gov- 
ernment of the people, by the people, for 
the people, shall not perish from the earth. 
We are here to consult together hpw best to 
provide for a union of truly Republican 
States, to seek to relume thirty-sis stars on 
the old flag. We are here to -;ee that ten rf 
these stars" are not opaque bodies, and do not 
continue paling their ineffectual fires beneath 
the gloom of darkness, of oligarchical 
tyrrany and oppression. We wish them 
to be brilliant stars, emblems of 
constitutional liberty, glittering orbs 
sparkling with the life-giving prin- 
ciples of the model Republic, fitting 
adornments of the glorious bauner of 
freedom. Our last and only hope is in the 
unity and fortitude of the loyal people of 
America in the support and vindication of 
the Thirty-Ninth Congress andthe election of 
a controlling Union majority in the succeed- 
ing Fortieth Congress. While the new article 
amending the National Constitution offers 
the most liberal conditions to the authors of 
the rebellion, and does not come up to the 
measure of our expections, we believe its rat- 
ification would be the commencement of a 
complete and lasting protection to all our 
people ; and, therefore, we accept it as the 
best present remedy, and appeal to our 
brothers aud friends ii> the North and the 
West to make it their watchword in the 
coming elections. The tokens are auspicious 
of overwhelming success. However little the 
verdict of the ballot-box may affect the 
reckless man in the Presidential chair, we 
cannot doubt that the traitors and sympa- 
thizers will recognize that verdict as tha 
surest indication that the mighty power 
which crushed the rebellion is still 
alive, and that those who attempt to 
oppose or defy it will do so at 
the risk of their own destruction. Our con- 
fidence in the overruling providence of God 
prompts the prediction and intensifies the 



14 



belief that when this warning is sufficiently 
taught to these misguided and reckless men, 
the liberated millions of th_ i rebellious South 
will be proffered those rights and franchise* 
which may be necessary to adjust and settle 
this mighty controversy in the spirit of the 
most enlarged and Christian philanthropy. 

George W. Paschal, of Texas, Ch'n. 

R. O. Sidney, of Mississippi. 

John H. Atkinson, of West Virginia. 



John A. Allderdice, of Delaware. 
A. W. Hawkins, of Tennessee. 
Samuel Knox, of Missouri, 
Wright K. Fish, of Louisiana. 
Milton J. Saffold, of Alabama. 
Philip Fraser, of Florida. 
D. R. Goodloe, of North Carolina. 
D. C. Forney, of District of Columbia. 
John A. J. Cresswell, of Maryland. 
G. W. Ashburn, of Georgia. 



A ndrew JoUksoq's Record Prior to the 
—Extracts from His 

HIS VIEWS IN 1801 — HE WOULD HANG TRAI- 
TORS. 

Who is it that has been engaged in con> 
spiracies y Who is it that has been engaged 
in making Avar upon the United States? 
Who is it' that has hred upon our flag ? Who 
is it that has uiveu instructions to take your 
arsenals, ions, to take your dock-yards, to 
seize your custom-houses and rob your treas- 
uries ? Who is it that has been engaged in 
secret conclaves, and issuing orders ior the 
seizure of public property in violation of the 
Constitution they were sworn to support y 
Show me the man who has been engaged in 
these conspiracies ; show me who 
has been sitting in nightly and se- 
cret conclaves, plotting the overthrow of 
the Government ; show me who has tired 
upon our iiag, has given instructions to take 
our ports and our custom houses, our arsen- 
als and our dock yards, and I will show you 
a traitor. * * * * * 

My proposition was that if they would 
should me who were guilty of the offences I 
have enumerated, I wouid show them who 
were the traitors. This being done, were I 
the President of the United States, I would 
do as Thomas Jefferson did in 1606, with 
Aaron Burr, who was charged with treason. 
I would have them arrested and tried for 
treason, and, if convicted, by the eternal God 
they should suffer the penalty of the law at the 
haiids of the executioner, bir, treason must be 
punished, fts enormity and the extent and 
depth of the offence must be made known. — 
Andrew Johnson' s speech in the Senate, March 
2d, 1861. 

HE WOULD BE THE MOSES OP THE COLORED 
RACE — LOYAL MEN, WHETHER WHITE OR 
BLACK, ALONE TO RULE THE SOUTH. 

Standing here upon the steps of the Capi- 
tol, with tlie past history of the State to wit' 
neus, the present condition to guide, and the 
future to encourage me, I, Andrew Johnson, 
do hereby proclaim freedom, full, broad and 
unconditional, to every man in Tennessee. 
* * * * I will indeed be your 

Moses, and lead you through the Red Sea of 
war and bondage to the fairer land of liberty 
and peace. 1 speak now as one who feels the 
world his country, and al} who love equal 
rights his friends. I speak, too, as a citizen 
of Tennessee. I am here on my own soil; 
and here 1 mean to stay and fight this great 
battle of truth and justice, to a triumphant 
end. Rebellion and slavery shall, by God's 
good help, no longer pollute our State. 
Loyal men, whether white or black, shall 
alone control her destinies. — Speech to the col- 
ored men of Nashville, October 24, 1664. 



Assembling of the Tliirty-niiitU Congress 
Speeches and JLetters. 

HE SAYS THAT TREASON MUST BE MADE ODIOUS. 

In my opinion, evil-doers should should be 
punished. Treason is the highest crime 
known in the catalogue of crimes, and for 
him that is guilty of it— for him that is will- 
sng to lift his impious hand against the au- 
thority of the Natiou— I would say death is 
too easy a punishment. My notion is that 
treason must be made odious and traitors must 
be punished and impoverished, their social' 
power broken that they may be made to feel 
tne penalty of their crime. You, my friends, 
have traitors in your very midst, and treason 
needs rebuke and punishment here as well as 
elsewhere. * * * * Hence' I say this; 
The halter to intelligent, inllueutial traitors! 
The leaders I would" hang. I hold, too, that 
wealthy traitors should be made to remuner- 
ate those men who have suffered as a conse- 
quence of their crimes, Union men who have 
lost their property, who have been driven 
from their homes, beggars and wanderers 
among strangers. Let us commence the 
work. We have put down these traitors in 
arms, let us put tiiem down in law, in pub- 
lic judgment and in the morals of the world. 
— Speech in Washington, April 3, 1805. 

HE SAY'S THAT THE PENALTY OF TREASON 
MUST BE PAID. 

The timehns come when the people should 
be taught to understand the length and 
breadth, the height and depth of treason * 
* * Treason is a crime, not a mere politi- 
cal difference, not a mere contest between 
two parties, in which one succeeded and 
the other has simply failed. If they had 
succeeded, the life of the nation would have 
been reft from it — the Union would have 
been destroyed. Surely the Constitution 
sufficiently defines treason. It consists in 
levying war against the United States, and 
iu giving their enemies aid and comfort. 
With this definition it requires the exercise 
of no great acumen to ascertain who are 
traitors. It requires no great perception to 
ascertain who have levied war against the 
United States ; nor does it require any great 
stretch of reasoning to ascertain who has 
given aid to the enemies of the United 
States ; and when the Government of the 
United States does ascertain who are the 
conscious and intelligent traitors, the penal- 
ty and forfeit should be paid. — Address to 
Loyal Southerners, April, 1865. 

HE SAYS THAT TRAITORS MUST TAKE BACK 
SEATS. 

In the work of reconstruction, traitow 
must take back seats. * * * * 
I say that the traitor has ceased to be a citi- 
zen, and in joining the rebellion has become 
a public enemy. He forfeited his right to 



I 



1.5 



vote with loyal men when he renounced his 
citizenship, and threatened to destroy our 
Government. — Speech at Nashville, June 'Mh, 



1864. 



HE ADVOCATES NEGRO SUFFRAGE. 



Executive Office, |_ 
Wj*=hington, D. C. August 15, 1SU5. f 
Governor W. L. Slmi key, JacksoD, Miss. ; 

I am gratified to see that you have organ- 
ized your Convention without difficulty. I 
hope that without delay your Convention 
will amend your State Constitution, abolish- 
ing slavery and denying to all future Legisla- 
tures the power to legislate that there is 
property iu man ; also that they will adopt 
the amendment to the Constitution of the 
United States abolishing slavery. If y^u 
could extend the elective franchise to all per- 
sons of color who can read the Constitution 
of the United States in English and write 
their names, and to all persons of color who 
own real estate valued at not less than two 
hundred and fifty dollars, and pay taxes . 
thereon, you would completely dismay the j 
adversary, and set an example the other ! 
States will follow. This you can do with | 
perfect safety ; and you thus place the South- 
ern States in reference to free persons of 
color, upon the same basis with the free 
States. I hope and trust your Convention 
will do this, and, as a consequence, theRadi- 
cols, who are wild on negro franchise, will be 
completely foiled in their attempt to keep 
the Southern States from renewing their re- 
lations with the Union, by not accepting 
their Senators and Representatives. 

Andrew Johnson, 
President of the United States. 

HE SAYS THAT THE REBELLION DEPRIVED THE 
SOUTHERN PEOPLE OF ALL CIVIL GOVERN- 
MENT. 

In his several proclamations appointing 
Provisional Governors in the Southern States 
Mr. Johnson affirmed that all civil govern- 
meut had been overthrown. He now assumes 
that civil governments have been re-estab- 
'\shed by his breath ; and the issue between 
uim and Congress is, first, whether he is 
competent to "build u jten State Govern- 
ments, which, according > his official declar- 
ation, had been overthrown; and, second, 
whether the mode which h^ pus adopted is 
fit to receive the sanction of t£ I * ' {al Amer- 
ican people. The following is the .preamble 
to his proclamation reorganizing the State 
of North Carolina, which is identical in 
language with ffiose subsequently issued for 
the other seceding States : 

"Whereas, The fourth section of the 
fourth article of the Constitution of the 
United States declares that the United States 
shall guarantee to every State in the Union 
a republican form of Government, and shall 
protect each of them against invasion and 
domestic violence ; and whereas the Presi- 
dent of the United States is, by the Consti- 



tution, made commander-in-chiei of the ar- 
my and navy, as well as chief civil execu- 
tive officer of the United States, and is bound 
by solemn oath faithfully to execute the of- 
fice of President of the United States, and 
to take care that the laws be faithfully exe- 
cuted ; and whereas the rebellion, which has 
been waged by a portion of the people of the 
United States against the properly constitu- 
ted authorities of the Government thereof, 
in the most violent and revolting form, but 
whose organized and armed forces have now 
been almost entirely overcome, has, in its 
revolutionary progress, ctkprivefl the people of 
the State of North Carolina of all civil govern- 
ment ; and whereas it becomes necessary and 
proper to carry out and enforce the obliga- 
tions of the United States t<> the people of 
North Carolina, in securing them in the en- 
joyment of a republican form of government : 
'•Now, therefore," etc. 

he coerces the southern states to ratify 
the constitutional amendment abol- 
ishing slavery. 

Department of State, 
Washington, .November 1, 1865. 

His Excellency William Marvin, Provisional 
Governor of Florida : 

Your letter of Qctober 7 was received 
and submitted to the President. He is grat- 
ified with the favorable progress towards re- 
I organization in Florida, and directs me to say 
! that he regards the ratification by the Legis- 
lature of the Congressional Amendment of 
the Constitution of the United States as in- 
dispensable to a successful restoration of the true 
legal relations between Florida and the other 
States, and equally indispensable to the re- 
turn of peace and harmony throughout the 
Republic. William H. Seward. 

the restoration of the south to be sub- 
ject to> the decision of congress. 

Department of State, ) 
Washington, September 12, 1865. j 

Sir : — Your excellency's letter of the 29th 
ultimo, with the accompanying proclama- 
tion, has been received and submitted to the 
President. The steps to ivliieh it refers, 
towards reorganizing the government of 
Florida, seem to be in the main judicious, 
and good results from them may be hoped 
for. The presumption to which the procla- 
mation refers, however, m favor of insurgents 
who may wish to vote, and who may have 
applied for, but not received, their pardons, 
is not entirely approved. All applications 
for pardons will be duly considered, ^nd will 
be disposed of as soon as may be practicable. 
It must, however, be distinctly understood thai 
the restoration to which your proclamation re- 
fers will be subject to the decision of Congress. 

I have the honor to be your excellency'6 
obedient servant. William H. Seward. 
His Excellency William Marvin. 



President 



Lincoln's Letters to Governor Hahn and General Wadsworth In 
Favor 'of Impartial Suffrase. 



TO GOVERNOR HAHN. 

Executive Mansion, i 
Washington, March 13, 18U4. | 
Honorable Michael Hahn : 

My Dear Sir — I congratulate you on hav- 
ing fixed your name in history as the first 



free State Governor of Louisiana. Now you 
are about to have a Convention, which, 
among other things, will probably define the 
elective franchise. I barely suggest for your 
private consideration whether some of the 
colored people may not be let in, as, for in- 



stance, the very intelligent, and especially r 
those who have fought gallantly in the ranks. 
They would probably help, in some tryVpjj 
time to come, to keep the jewel of liberty iu 
the family of freedom. But this is only a 
suggestion, not to the public, but to you 
alone. Truly yours, - A. Lincoln. 

TO GENERAL WADSWORTH. 

The following extract from a letter written 
by President Lincoln to General Wadsworth 
was first published in the columns of the 
Southern Advocate of September 18, 18G5. Its 
authenticity has never been disputed : 

"You desire to know, in the event of our 
complete success in the field, the same be- 
ing followed bv^ a loyal and cheerful sub- 
mission on the part of the South, if univer- 
sal amnesty should not be accompanied with 
universal suffrage. Now, since you know 
my private inclinations as to what terms 
should be granted to the South, in the con- 



tingency mentioned, I will here add that if 
our success should be thus realized, fol- 
lowed by such desired results, I can- 
not see, if universal amnesty is 
granted, how, under the circum- 
stances, I can avoid exacting in return uni- 
versal suffrage, or at least suffrage on th« 
basis of intelligence an! military service. 
How to better the condition of the colored 
race has long been a study which has attract- 
ed my serious and careful attention. Hence I 
think I am clear and decided as to whai 
course I shall pursue in the premises, regard- 
ing it as a religious duty, as the nation's 
guardian of these people, who have 'so' hero- 
ically vindicated their manhood on the bat- 
field, where, in assisting to save the life of 
the Republic, they have demonstrated in 
blood their right to the ballot, which is but 
the humane protection of the flag they have 
so fearlessly defended." 



THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE. 



The Chicago TJkibune is now in the twentieth year of its existence. 
During its entire term of publication, it has been the foremost of Western journals, 
in point of 

News Enterprise, Commercial Accuracy, Editorial 
Vigor, and Literary Excellence, 

and as a consequence of these facts, the foremost in point of circulation. 

In Politics, it is Radical Republican. In the battle now going on between 
an apostate President and an anti-slavery Congress, it sees only a continuance, in 
another form, of the great contest which has slain half a million patriots, and 
piled up a debt of three thousand millions of dollars. In this battle, the Chicago 
Tribunk fights on the same side that it espoused during the contest of arms. It 
believes that loyal men, and they alone, should rule the country — that treaso 
should be made odious, and that traitors should take back 3eats in the work o 
Reconstruction. It holds that there can be no settlemeichof the questions now 
agitating the country except upon the basis of equal right"? and exact justice to all. 



ro<-« 



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